I notice how Pitt. traded in 4% or so of Ward’s passes to ditribute to the 4th and 5th option. They spread it around a little more equally and didn’t keep pounding Ward like we had to/want to with Mason and Cincy does with TJ. I think Ward could easily demand more balls but his blocks and team play obviously work for them.

     I also notice how by decreasing our passes by 124 and increasing our runs by 146 from ‘07 to ’08 we gained 16 additional plays and 9 first downs. That imbalance gave us an average of 1 more play a game. Is that worth being overly predictable and heavy on the run. We don’t waiver much from our number of 3rd downs. Thats pretty incredible how fine a line football numbers can be.

Mark Clayton has been in the shadows of Anthony Mason

The basketball player?

Seriously though, I see the Ravens getting the ball to multiple guys this year, as Pitt did in 2008. I think Mason, Clayton, Heap, L.J Smith, D-Will (If healthy), Marcus Smith and Kelly Washington could all make an impact. We may not have that one big play guy but hopefully the sum of all parts will get it done.

raven, I do agree that Clayton needs to show something more this year to not be considered a disappointment. I think he is going to turn some heads. He finally has the talent and continuity at the QB position where there will be no one else to blame if he doesn’t improve. Mason didn’t really break out until his fourth or fifth season in TEN (granted he was used as a return guy then) and we know how he turned out. Here’s to wishing Clayton’s career follows a similar trajectory.

anthony? what….lol.

yeah…i need to take it easy on the guy. he did some great things this year when we were dead in the water. he made some nice grabs though far and few between. i need to get him some Gary Clark footage.

I was watching an interview of John Harbaugh this morning. In the interview, Harbaugh said that Cameron was limiting the offense and Flacco to “safe” throws last season. In many words, Harbaugh said that Flacco can safely make more throws than the average quarterback because of his arm strength. Because of that, the offense was able to rely on him, but he was still a rookie. Harbaugh was careful to say that Cameron would open the playbook even more this next season.

That being said, it’s easy to see why our receivers struggled. It’s hard for receivers on wide-open, passing offenses to consistently beat coverage and make plays. It’s MUCH harder on an offense that’s being limited. I still think that Flacco was pretty amazing for a rookie, but it’s good to know that he will only get better. As he improves, our receivers will improve. I think that we have a good receivers and that they will surprise people next season. Do we have the next Larry Fitzgerald? Probably not, but the Patriots went to the Super Bowl with Deon Branch (SB MVP). With our ball-control offense, I don’t believe that we need that type of receiver… although I’d love to see it.

Mason moving on in a year (or two). Clayton could have a very decent year in ’09, then assume the “Mason” role for the next four or five years. He is sort of the same type of receiver that Derrick was when he was younger. He could turn into an excellent possession receiver, with people like D-Will, Marcus Smith, K-Wash and who knows as the over the middle and field stretching guys.

He hasn’t totally disappointed but he leaves much to be desired from a team that desperately needs their number 2 receiver to compete with the other notable tandems in the league and provide a spark in the playoffs.

People should know we are not in anyway disrespecting what Clayton has done, but we are vouching for more looks. He does indeed make things happen when it is thrown to his side. Very rarely are we complaining that he drops the ball (I cannot recall a moment where I said “come one Clayton!”).

He has shown that he can make it happen when given the opportunity. We just do not see if as often as it really should be.

As mediocre as our WR group may be compared to the other groups in the league, a year under this system should indeed help.

Cause as of right now, it looks like we are sticking with the guys we have now.

raven, update “Date” and repost so it has today’s date. Great topic and stats to back it up. Thanks!

mason had double the catch % over clayton. pitt and cleveland (young qbs) had just a few % points difference between their 1st and 2nd receiver. i know that flacco was being treated with kid gloves but to have clayton take such a back seat is questionable. i’m not asking for joe to throw deep to clayton every play. clayton could have lined up opposite mason and run similar safe short routes. having those two receivers darting around within 10 yards like Indy and Pitt like to do would have at least made D’s guess a little. Pitt runs a safe O with Ben as they try to keep him under control. they just seem to have multiple short pass options as their stats show. it’s not like we’re asking THAT much of Flacco. i think it would have helped him more than just staring down curls in the flats. those were the obvious “safe” passes that ate him up against Tenn and Pitt..